Final Fantasy 14 Heavensward Expansion Adding Two New Jobs and Race

Gamer Escape reports at the last in a series of three Fan Festivals for the popular MMO, this one taking place in Tokyo, game director and producer Naoki Yoshida took to the stage to expand upon the details we already knew.

First, it was announced the new Au Ra race will be introduced as the game's sixth playable race. They originate from the continent of Othard and have some reptilian features thanks to scaled skin and long tails, though they also have horns sticking out of the side of their heads. Anyone already playing the game will likely know Yugiri, and it seems she'll be removing her mask in Patch 2.5, revealing herself as Au Ra in the process.

Two new jobs will also be available when Heavensward launches as well, neither of which will require a base class. The first, the Astrologian, is a healing class that draws on the power of the stars to cast support spells using divination cards. Different combinations of these cards will create different effects.

The second new job is the Machinist, a gunner-type class that provides ranged, physical DPS. You'll also be able to deploy mechanical turrets on the battlefield to attack enemies from multiple angles and support your teammates. Both of these jobs join the previously-revealed Dark Knight as new additions for the expansion.

A new raid was also revealed: Alexander is a gigantic, old, abandoned Mechanical fortress into which the Goblins have summoned a primal essence. He needs to be defeated from within. Like Coils of Bahamut, Alexander will be an endgame raid but it'll have two modes - Normal, which is apparently like the echo-buffed Coils, and Hard, which is seriously tough. While we don't know more differences between the modes or anything about lockouts and loot, we've been told completion of the Final Coil isn't needed for you to try and tackle Alexander.

Finally, Yoshida announced a new main theme would be written for the game by legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, who we recently got a chance to speak to about his work. The entire thing was then wrapped up with the unveiling of the game's Collector's Edition, which will come housed in a box with art by Yoshitaka Amano. A figurine of a flying dragon mount is included and, though Yoshida wouldn't reveal its name just yet, we're told its important to the game's story.

Other items in the Collector's Edition include an art book and a video disc, though what quite of isn't clear. As you'd expect, in-game items are included as well. These include a flying griffin mount, a Dark Knight headpiece inspired by Final Fantasy IV's Cecil's baron helm, and a Wind-Up Kain minion. As you can imagine, the physical version will cost a pretty penny, but a digital-only version will be available that should be a bit cheaper.